Liverpool have predictable transfer deadline plans as Klopp looks to midfielders

31 January 2023 , 07:15

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Liverpool have predictable transfer deadline plans as Klopp looks to midfielders

Jurgen Klopp has already given his answer on what Liverpool will do on transfer deadline day: nothing.

The manager made clear at the weekend his spending has finished for January, after splashing out £37m on bringing Cody Gakpo to Anfield at the start of the month.

While Liverpool are in flux at the moment, publicly Klopp remains confident that his squad is strong enough to still fight for a top four finish, and guarantee Champions League football - and crucially finance - for next season.

Klopp knows he needs midfield reinforcements, but he is also aware that the standard of player he requires to maintain Liverpool’s position amongst the European elite is simply not available in January.

So he will tough it out and keep his powder dry for the summer, hoping to achieve the top four finish required to attract the likes of Jude Bellingham, who is still leaning towards Anfield as he prepares to depart Dortmund at the end of the season, and Wolves ’ Brazilian born, Portugal international play-maker Matheus Nunes.

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Nunes only joined the Midlands club in the summer, after also appearing for Sporting Lisbon in the current season, so any move would have to be for the summer.

Klopp still believes - or at least states publicly, he will have the squad to finish in the top four, when he gets players back from injury, with the manager stating Van Dijk, Jota and Firmino will all be playing again in the next fortnight.

Jurgen Klopp will have to make do with his current squad for the rest of the season (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

But they need to sort out their forward line too. Darwin Nunez is still a work in progress, as is the transition from playing with a false 9 the past five years, to an orthodox centre forward this season.

They have struggled to implement the new system, so maybe Klopp will have to go back to the old ways, with Firmino coming back into the middle, and Nunez perhaps playing wide on the left, until Luis Diaz and Jota are back.

With those three in tandem alongside Mo Salah, Liverpool will seem more menacing after their toothless displays of late.

David Maddock